Boğaziçi lecturer Can Candan wins lawsuit against his dismissal

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Can Candan, a documentary filmmaker and a lecturer at Boğaziçi University's Department of Western Languages and Literatures for 15 years, has won the lawsuit against his dismissal.

The İstanbul 7th Administrative Court, which previously ordered the stay of the execution of the decision for his dismissal, annulled the decision, concluding that it was unlawful.

It ruled that his personal rights and material rights that he was deprived of should be paid back with interest, Candan said on Twitter.

Candan was dismissed on July 16, 2021, by Rector Naci İnci, who has faced protests at the university since his appointment by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

What happened?

After Melih Bulu, the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University, was dismissed by a presidential decree in July 2021, amid wide-scale protests, Naci İnci, who was the vice rector of Bulu, was appointed as the acting rector of the university by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).

Shortly after his appointment as an acting rector, Naci İnci sent Can Candan a letter, informing him about his dismissal.

Candan, a documentary filmmaker, academic and faculty advisor of the BÜLGBTI+ Student's Club, which was closed by the appointed rector, had been filming and documenting the protests of Boğaziçi University faculty against the appointment of Melih Bulu for months.

After his dismissal from Boğaziçi University, Candan said that this decision was, above all else, an attack on students' right to education and filed a lawsuit against the Rectorate of Boğaziçi University on August 13 and demanded the stay of the execution and termination of his dismissal. The İstanbul 2nd Administrative Court has dismissed this application by concluding that the related action "was in conformity with the law."

After the appointed administration dismissed Candan despite the decisions of the faculty and department, he announced on Twitter that he would be giving his classes FA 498 Documentary Cinema and FA350 Film Project, which he had been offering every fall semester for 14 years.

The first class of this semester was scheduled for October 11 at 10 am - 2 pm at the South Campus and would be broadcast online.

Going to the South Campus of the Boğaziçi University for his open class on October 11, Candan was not let in the school.

Candan shared the incident in a video on Twitter, briefly saying, "I was going to have the first meeting of my documentary filmmaking course with my students at the South Campus as an open class today. We, my spouse from the Department of Sociology and I, came here together in our vehicle. When they saw me, 'Professor, we cannot let you in.' When I asked the reason why, they said, 'There is an instruction from the Rectorate.' I now cannot have my open class which I was planning to have."

By a majority of votes on February 16, 2022, the İstanbul 7th Administrative Court gave a decision of stay of execution for Can Candan's dismissal. The academic returned to the campus on March 25.

(HA/VK)